Friday, July 8, 2011

AAM Response to Jobs Report

Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) statement on this morning's latest monthly jobs report:

The nation’s jobless rate rose to 9.2% in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employment rose by only 18,000 last month. Manufacturing employment rose by 6,000, which means that sector has stopped generating significant job gains over the past two consecutive months.

Said Scott Paul, Executive Director of AAM:

“This is a lousy jobs report. Any momentum we’ve seen in manufacturing has stalled. I think it is fair to say that we are at a crossroads now: could we be headed toward years of stagnation, or will Washington do what it takes to help spur private sector job growth?"

"While the American people want a jobs plan, and the data bear out the challenge, Washington seems tone deaf. Making drastic cuts in investments like infrastructure and research will only deepen the jobs crisis."

"The metric for President Obama and congressional leaders must now be the number of jobs we create, rather than the amount of deficit reduction we see. We’ve offered a plan for American manufacturing job growth that would garner bipartisan support. Why isn’t Congress listening?”

The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) is a unique non-partisan, non-profit partnership forged to strengthen manufacturing in the U.S. AAM brings together a select group of America’s leading manufacturers and the United Steelworkers to promote creative policy solutions on priorities such as international trade, energy security, health care, retirement security, currency manipulation, and other issues of mutual concern. For more information, please visit www.americanmanufacturing.org.